Fox of Avarice (the rewrite)
by JD98
Summary: Greed was offered a second chance at life in a new world by Truth, the only catch was to be sealed into an aspiring ninja named Naruto Uzumaki. Throw in an unlikely friendship with a giant fox and the homunculus may soon find his new life more entertaining than he initially thought.
1. Another chance

A/N: Hey guys, so as the remake idea won the poll, here's chapter one, I hope you all enjoy it.

* * *

"Thank you and goodbye… my friends…"

Greed opened his eyes, immediately becoming confused. The last thing he remembered was seeing the horrified expressions of his comrades after Father destroyed him. Slowly, he sat up realising he did indeed have a solid body, flexing his fingers and other muscles just to make sure. He looked around, though there was nothing much to see, the strange domain that Greed found himself in appeared to be nothing but an endless expanse of white. "Where the hell am I?" Greed asked himself.

" **Welcome Greed the Avaricious."** A voice stated, immediately Greed whipped around to find the source of the voice. The being was completely white, eyeless and resembled the build of a human male in shape, surrounded by a black, blotchy outline to distinguish itself from the background. When the being spoke, it was as if several voices were speaking at once.

"Who are you?" Greed asked in a respectful tone, sensing the being was much more powerful than he was.

The entity seemed to think for a moment before replying, **"I am many things. I am World. I am Universe. I am God. I am Truth. I am All. I am One and lastly, I am You."** The figure, now identified as Truth said, a grin splitting apart where the face would be.

Greed was shocked, this was the being that Father wanted to acquire so he could become a god, after a long silence, Greed finally asked, "What do you want with me?"

" **I'm glad you asked, you see Greed, I have decided to give you a second chance at life."**

Greed, for lack of a better term was stunned, "Why exactly do you want to do that?"

" **Why wouldn't I?"** Truth asked, **"I suppose you're not aware given that you died before it happened but by reversing the effects of the Ultimate Shield, you were able to cripple Father, allowing for the Fullmetal Alchemist to deal the final blow to that arrogant fool's physical form. Once that was done, I took care of the rest."**

Greed smiled, happy that his allies had managed to defeat Father, "But that still doesn't answer my question." He stated, taking care not to sound condescending.

" **Of course, let's call it equivalent exchange, your heroism helped to save one world, so I will give life in a new one. The new world I have selected is not like your old one, instead of alchemists, it is a world populated by ninjas, somewhat similar warriors to the bodyguards of the Xingese prince. However, many techniques performed in that world are powered by chakra, a form of life energy produced through a combination of one's spiritual and physical energy. There are five major ninja villages, each lead by a ninja known as the Kage, they are typically deemed the most powerful, respected and sometimes even feared ninja to exist."** Truth explained.

Greed had to admit it was a tempting offer, however, some things seem too good to be true and this deal was definitely one of them, "What's the catch?" He asked suspiciously.

Truth's grin disappeared at that, rather than answer verbally, a shimmering image began to materialise. It revealed what once seemed to be a prosperous city, seemed to being the key term as many buildings appeared to have been ripped apart or crushed by something unfathomably large. Fire damage was also evident, likely having been caused as a result of the attack. One of the city's most prominent features was a mountain with several faces carved into it. Soon though, the image moved closer towards one of the few unscathed buildings, it had a bizarre symbol Greed had never seen before (1), the perspective of the image changed to the inside of the topmost area. The room was an office of sorts, the only occupant being an old man wearing red and white robes, it didn't take a genius to realise that this man was likely an authority figure of some sorts. However, he was looking down solemnly at the bundle he cradled in his arms. It took Greed a moment to realise, but the bundle was a baby clad in a blue blanket, even though he wasn't an expert, it was fairly easy to tell that the baby was a new-born. It had a small mop of blonde hair, but the most peculiar thing about it was three whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek.

" **The child's name is Naruto Uzumaki."** Truth explained, **"He has been orphaned as a result of an attack by a creature of immense power known as the Nine-Tailed Fox. The 'catch' as you called it, is that you will be placed inside him, much like your relationship with the Xingese prince."**

"You want me to share a body with a baby?" Greed asked incredulously, "No thanks." He stated, getting up and attempting to walk away from Truth as the image disappeared, Ling may have been an ally and eventual friend to the homunculus but even he didn't like the thought of sharing another body, least of all with a baby.

" **Wait, wait, wait!"** Truth cried, suddenly appearing in front of the homunculus, **"There is one little detail I should have mentioned. You see, the Nine-Tails was not killed, it didn't even run away. It was sealed into Naruto."** Truth explained.

"Oh," Greed said in what seemed to be a realisation, "So you want to trap me in the body of a baby with a giant fox? How nice of you." He continued sarcastically.

" **That's not what I meant."** Truth stated in an annoyed tone, **"Naruto will wish to become Hokage, the leader of Konoha when he grows up. However, the implications of the Nine-Tail's sealing will likely mean he will be ostracised by most of Konoha, something he shall want will be the chance to have friends. Sound familiar?"**

Greed was surprised and even felt sympathy for the young baby, now he was unsure at the parallels drawn between himself and the child, " **There is also something else."** Truth said, garnering Greed's attention, **"While it is true you would also share a body with the Nine-Tails, it is rumoured to be the most powerful of the tailed beasts, if you help Naruto to control or even convince the Nine-Tails to lend you its strength, you could become incredibly powerful. Also, do you recall the mountain with the faces carved into it shown in the image?"** At Greed's nod, Truth explained further, **"As I have said, the Kage lead their respective villages, however Konoha has a relatively unique tradition of carving the faces of their leaders both past and present onto the face of the mountain you saw. The last face that was carved on? Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Naruto's biological father. While royalty does not officially exist in any ninja village, Naruto is practically a prince. As well as that, Naruto is a member of the Uzumaki clan, a group of ninja famed for having an incredibly strong life force."**

Greed thought for a moment, despite his grievances with being sealed into an infant, the potential for what Naruto could become did sound promising. Plus, the fact that the new-born was from a prominent lineage, much like Ling, made the deal seem even better. "I think I'll take your offer Truth." Greed said, the entity's grin growing wider in response, "But, is there anything else I need to know?"

" **Yes, there is. You will no longer possess a Philosopher's Stone, your homunculus abilities will instead be powered by Naruto's chakra, should you choose to take command at times. Also, certain ninja wield special abilities known as Kekkei Genkai, which is determined by a combination of what are known as nature affinities, which also show the elemental ninjutsu you will have a better control of. You will be granted a separate nature affinity to Naruto, meaning the two of you shall possess a Kekkei Genkai. Which one exactly, you will have to find out but I know you will make good use of it. Also, I trust this form shall suffice?"** At Truth's prompt, a reflective surface was created in front of Greed, allowing the homunculus to actually see what he looked like. Needless to say, Greed was quite surprised to see Ling Yao's face staring back at him. Though he did look exactly like the prince, a certain feature was different from the young man. Unlike Ling, Greed's eyes remained open constantly open, showing off his slit pupils surrounded by purple irises.

His long, black hair was tied back in a ponytail, with a set of bangs swept over to the right side. He was clad in all black clothes that consisted of a sleeveless Nehru jacket under a long trench coat with a pair of slacks and shoes. "This'll do fine." Greed said, quite happy to see his second form again.

" **And with that I bid you adieu."** Truth said, there was a creaking sound behind the homunculus. Turning around, Greed saw a set of black stone gates decorated alchemical symbols opening, when the gates fully opened, it revealed a pitch-black abyss. Slowly, black tendrils began to slither from out of the darkness and firmly anchored themselves by wrapping around the limbs of the homunculus. The tendrils began to pull Greed towards the open gate, the homunculus offering no resistance making the process that much quicker. As the doors began to close on him, Truth gave him one last farewell, **"Good luck to you Greed, may you face the challenges the ninja world has to offer with steadfast resolve!"** With that, the gate closed fully, plunging Greed into darkness before he blacked out.

* * *

Greed groaned as he began to wake up once again, "I have really got to stop waking up in random places I don't know anything about." He grumbled as he took in his dimly-lit surroundings, if he didn't know any better he'd say he was in the sewers beneath Dublith or possibly even Central. Getting up from his sitting position, he realised that there was ankle-deep water which seemed to cover the entirety of the floor, "So where do I go from here?" He pondered, seeing as the walls of the sewer looked practically the same. Seeing no other option, Greed decided to pick a random direction.

Wandering through the seemingly endless labyrinth of tunnels soon began to feel tedious, however, Greed had begun to develop a gut feeling that felt like it was guiding him towards a specific location. He soon found the answer as he rounded a corner, a large set of red gates with bars reminiscent of a jail cell that appeared to be kept shut by a tag with lettering similar to the one he'd seen on the building in the vision Truth showed him. As Greed slowly approached the cage, he became aware of the air steadily becoming thicker and for some reason a slight feeling of dread was beginning to well-up inside the homunculus.

" **You are not my container, in fact, you're not even human, are you?"** (2) A demonic voice emanated from the cage, Greed froze and took notice of the sound of footsteps as well as the rippling water. It wasn't long before the leviathan emerged from the shadows, the monstrosity was a gigantic fox, easily bigger than several buildings. It had bright orange fur, intimidating red eyes with black slits for pupils and part of its body appeared to be vaguely humanoid. Though the fox's most prominent feature was nine large tails standing on end behind it.

"You're right, I'm not." Greed said, managing to regain his composure, "My name is Greed," Upon noticing the Nine-Tails appeared to be puzzled by the statement, Greed decided to elaborate, "Let me explain." From there Greed told the Nine-Tails his story, seeing as the tailed beast wouldn't at least tolerate the homunculus if he knew nothing about him. He told the Nine-Tails of how he was created by Father, his first death and revival, and finally, how he had died a second time before being offered the deal by Truth.

There was quite a long silence as the Nine-Tails stared apprehensively at the homunculus, deciding to break the silence, Greed spoke up, "So…? Are we roommates now?"

* * *

A/N: Roll credits, people asked for this, I hope I was able to deliver. With any luck, I'll see you guys next chapter.

1) I don't recall seeing any kind of lettering from one of the Japanese alphabets in FMA, correct me if I'm wrong.

2) Animals can sense homunculi aren't human, so I don't see a reason why the tailed beasts can't do the same.


	2. A Friend

Now it was safe to say the Nine-Tails was not having the best day, his previous container undergoing childbirth would have provided him with a chance to escape, but of course was prevented from doing so by the Fourth Hokage, his container's husband. He was able to escape but only after being put under the control of an Uchiha, recognising the familiar feeling of the Sharingan's hypnotic abilities. Then he was yet again sealed, though this time into the Fourth Hokage's new-born son and to top it all off a human-like being calling himself 'Greed' asks if they're roommates after explaining a story of how he was from another world.

Even the Nine-Tails had to admit it sounded farfetched that the 'homunculus' that Greed had identified himself as came from a world much different to his own. But given that he could sense the homunculus wasn't human, something which was definitely strange despite Greed's appearance, it seemed that he was telling the truth. He finally spoke up, deciding that he had kept his visitor waiting for long enough, **"I suppose I will tolerate your presence, since it seems you can't leave. But know this, I am the Nine-Tailed Fox, strongest of the tailed beasts and you shall address me as such."**

"Okay, Such." Greed quipped, smirking confidently.

" **That isn't what I meant."** The Nine-Tails growled threateningly, **"This is my domain and you will show me respect."**

"Your rules, Foxy." Greed replied in a nonchalant tone as he gave a mock surrender gesture, which only seemed to further grate on the tailed beast's nerves.

" **You're pushing your luck."** The fox grumbled, releasing just the slightest bit of killing intent, enough to at least make the homunculus think twice before annoying him further. It seemed to work as Greed appeared to be serious straight after, **'Still though, I can't help but wonder, what repercussions will this have for my container?'** The Nine-Tails thought.

* * *

 _8 years later_ (1)

"So, what do you think is going to happen to the kid today, Foxy?" Greed asked, despite the fact that the Nine-Tails hated his nickname, he still continued to use it. Though, the homunculus was not ungrateful to the tailed beast, quite the opposite in fact since it was thanks to the Nine-Tails that the homunculus was able to now read the lettering used in the world, such as the symbol on the fox's cage meant 'seal', which made sense given the current position the Nine-Tails found himself in. Even though there were times when Greed tried to ask about the fox's past, he would always find a way to dodge the question, so the homunculus had stopped asking, deciding it was best that the Nine-Tails told him on his own terms.

" **I've been telling you to stop using that damn nickname for the past eight years."** 'Foxy' growled in irritation, **"And how should I know? We can't influence the brat yet, just see and hear what he does."**

"I know that." Greed stated, "I've just got this feeling, that something's gonna happen to him." He noted, though he wasn't sure whether to be glad or worried. On one hand, something good may finally come about for the young boy, which Greed had to admit was something that Naruto needed. On the other, Naruto had been ostracised for containing the Nine-Tails, exactly as Truth had said. Though even with the protection of the Third Hokage (who had retaken office after the Fourth Hokage's death), Greed was always paranoid one fool's hatred of the fox would boil over and be taken out on Naruto.

Through concentrating the two were indeed able to see what their container was seeing, currently it was winter time, only a month having passed since the blonde's eighth birthday. It was the first time that the snow had stuck and the blonde was eager to explore the changed surroundings, thus he had taken the decision to walk through some woods a little bit away from the main housing areas of the village.

"So, if you're a Hyuga, why don't you show us your Byakugan?" A voice questioned in a snide tone, the blonde's vision turned to reveal three older boys standing in front of a girl about Naruto's age, who had bizarre eyes that looked like pearls.

"But if you're not going to use them, don't even look at us." Another of the three mocked.

"I bet your some kind of monster." The last of the three remarked.

"Yeah, a Byakugan monster!" One of the other boys added, causing the boys to begin laughing cruelly as well as causing the girl to breakdown crying.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled garnering the attention of the four, "Cut it out!"

"And who're you?" The leader of the group asked in a condescending tone.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage!" The blonde declared.

"Future Hokage? What a joke!" One of the boys scoffed.

"Hey, isn't he that kid who…?"

"Yeah, you're right." The leader confirmed, "As if someone like him could be Hokage." He said loudly, clearly irritating the blond.

"I'll show you!" Naruto cried, "Clone Jutsu!" The young boy made a hand-sign, the three boys recoiling in fear as two puffs as smoke produced a clone each. At least, that should have happened, the clones that were produced did resemble the blond but they were ghostly pale and crumpled like used sheets. The failed attempts flopped to the ground uselessly, the three boys laughing at the ninja in training before the two lackeys proceeded to grab him by the arms.

"These little shits," Greed muttered lowly, "If I could just…" He began as the leader of the boys went to punch Naruto in the stomach, not noticing that it had strangely turned black. However, as he did so, there was cracking sound as if something was broken and the leader was laying on the snow-covered ground, clutching his visibly broken index and middle fingers as he writhed in pain. The black area disappeared without having been seen by any of the children.

"What the hell?!" The two lackeys shouted, letting go of Naruto and backing away from him as they assisted their leader in standing up.

"It's like I punched a brick wall…" The leader nearly sobbed out, though he kept it contained by gritting his teeth. The three bullies regarded Naruto one last time with looks of fear before they turned tail and ran, leaving the two remaining children confused.

After a moment of silence to process the information, the girl decided to speak up, "A-Are you okay?"

"I'm… fine" Naruto replied uncertainly, "But are you okay?"

"Yes." The girl nodded.

"That's good." At his remark, Naruto began to walk away.

"Uh…" The girl began, causing Naruto to face her again, "Thank you, Naruto." She continued.

"No problem, uh…" He responded, though he soon realised that he didn't know the young girl's name.

"Hinata, Hinata Hyuga" She replied.

"See you around, Hinata." Naruto said cheerfully before running off.

Meanwhile, in the seal, Greed and Kurama had watched the entire exchange unfold, **"What was that?"** The Nine-Tails asked.

"That my friend was the Ultimate Shield." Greed said, now sporting a grin as he realised he just given Naruto a quick use of his signature ability. The Nine-Tails gave a look of understanding, since the homunculus had informed him of the ability and now observing it in action, it did seem impressive.

" **There is a slight problem."** The fox pointed out, Greed turned to him with a puzzled look, **"That was a punch from an ordinary child, we still don't know how effective it will be against a ninjutsu attack."**

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." Greed answered, "Besides, I've got a new feeling, well two actually. Firstly, that the kid is going to make good use of the Ultimate Shield."

" **And secondly?"** The Nine-Tails questioned.

"That the girl he bumped into is going to be pretty special."

* * *

It had been a few hours since Hinata Hyuga had encountered the kind boy known as Naruto Uzumaki, in truth she already knew his name and face since they were in the same classes at the academy though he often seemed to cause trouble, something that earned him a scolding from teachers and caused him to be friends with a select few boys in the class. After the two had parted ways, she had found her way to a small shopping district in the village on her way back to the Hyuga clan compound. It was here that Ko Hyuga, her at the time off-duty chaperone had spotted her, berated her for being out on her own at such a young age and escorted her back to the compound, where her father and clan head, Hiashi Hyuga, had been informed. Though he deemed Ko's scolding appropriate, so there were no further repercussions.

That however didn't make the atmosphere at dinner any less awkward for the heir of the Hyuga clan. Even for her young age she could tell her father's apprehensiveness about her being heir could be a pivotal decision in her future. The fact that the gentle girl often found herself out of her depth after being thrown into harsh lessons in learning the Gentle Fist was very likely to be a deciding factor in her eligibility as heir, especially so if her younger sister proved to be more effective at using it.

"Hinata, you seem distracted." Hiashi spoke up, causing the young girl to jump slightly as her concentration was broken, "Did something happen today?"

"Um…" The young heiress began, "Yes… I was cornered by a few bullies today," She admitted, noticing her father's brow twitch in some form of annoyance, though whether it was directed at her or towards the bullies she couldn't be certain, "But, someone helped me out."

"And who was it?" Hiashi asked his daughter, shortly before beginning to take a sip from his tea.

"He was called Naruto Uzumaki." Hinata replied, needless to say that Hiashi nearly choked on his beverage, "Are you okay, father?" The Hyuga heiress asked in concern.

"I'm fine Hinata." Hiashi assured her, soon the Hyuga head recovered from the coughing fit induced by his surprise. While not especially close to Minato or Kushina, he had great respect for both of them as shinobi, even though he was usually rather stoic when questioned about it. Of course, their orphaned child was known to pull pranks around the village and cause chaos in the process, usually while boasting about becoming the Hokage one day, a trait likely caused by being ostracised by the village. Yet despite constant rebuttals of his claims, the blonde still maintained with great confidence that he would take up the mantle someday.

With these thoughts in mind, an idea soon began to take root in Hiashi's mind, he of course knew that a major reason for his daughter not living up to the standards set by the rigorous training regime all Hyuga underwent was her typically unconfident disposition. If she became friends with young Uzumaki then perhaps… yes that could work.

"Hinata, I'd like for you to become friends with him."

For a long moment, the Hyuga heiress didn't know what to think, blinking in surprise as she tried to process what her father had just said. While it was true the heiress occasionally talked with people in her class and even considered them friends, since beginning her training from the tender age of five her life had often been saturated by it. The fact that her father of all people was suggesting she do something that could potentially distract her from that seemed completely out of character for the normally harsh clan head.

"Well?" Hiashi spoke up, clearly expecting an answer from his daughter.

"Okay, we're very different… but maybe I could teach him the theory of tree-walking?" (2) The young Hyuga asked, "He doesn't have good chakra control." She explained after seeing her father's questioning look.

"That's a start." Hiashi said, smiling at his daughter, the Hyuga head couldn't quite explain it but something was telling him his daughter would be able to work up the courage to talk with the young boy.

 _The next day_

It was the beginning of a fresh day at classes at the academy, Hinata had arrived early as she usually did. Currently, the heiress had been keeping an eye on who had entered the classroom since she had arrived, most notably her fellow clan heirs. However, she had yet to catch sight of Naruto, that is until a blond blur shot into the classroom before skidding to a halt and revealing the shinobi-in-training, "Made it!" The academy student declared, few students took notice of him and any who did looked at him with relative indifference.

Though, Hinata was the exception to this rule and began to approach the blonde, the sight of the normally timid girl approaching the class's trouble maker managed to capture the attention of even the brooding Uchiha heir. A look of realisation finally appeared on Naruto's face as he noticed Hinata approaching him, "Hey, Hinata, I didn't realise you were in my class." The young boy greeted cheerfully.

The Hyuga heiress's unease all but completely vanished with her classmate's attitude, even managing a small smile of her own, "Um, I was wondering, if I could ask you something?"

"You just did." Naruto grinned back, the young girl blinked in confusion before she understood the joke, chuckling to it.

"Okay, well I just wanted to ask if you would train with me after school?" Before the blond could respond, there was a simultaneous cry of surprise from many in the class. Even Shikamaru, Shino, and Sasuke, the most stoic members of the class, wore surprised expressions.

"You really mean that?" The young blond asked, tears of joy beginning to well up in his eyes.

Hinata unfortunately didn't realise why Naruto was beginning to cry, jumping to what was to her an obvious conclusion, "W-wait, I didn't mean to upset you-" The Hyuga heiress began.

Realising what his classmate was implying, Naruto quickly wiped away the tears with the back of his hand, "No, no, it's fine." He assured her, "I'd really like that." The conversation would have continued had Iruka not chosen that very moment to enter the classroom. Hinata began to return to her seat after the class was issued with the same instruction, though with a quick backwards glance, she caught Naruto grinning at her to which she kindly smiled back.

"Was there something I missed?" Iruka asked as he noticed the eyes of several students following Hinata's stride. There was a collective shake of heads from several students, Iruka just shrugged, chalking it up to kids just being kids.

* * *

"Told you so." Greed smirked triumphantly, the Nine-Tails just snorted in response.

" **Maybe so, but you know it may take some time for him to discover that we're sealed within him. And when he does, there's no telling how he'll react."** The tailed beast pointed out cynically.

"Fair enough," Greed admitted, "But with this little stroke of good luck, I think the kid might just be on his way to becoming a good Hokage. If these Hyuga are as prominent a clan as you've told me. He might have to work on acquiring others, but this a good start. I wonder if…"

It was at this point that the Nine-Tails tuned the homunculus out as he rolled his eyes, Greed occasionally got like this, where he would ramble to himself about the potential future of their container. The fox assumed it was due to the Ultimate Shield user becoming somewhat stir crazy from not being able to acquire the finer things in life. Wealth, power, and women, sex, status, and glory were what fell under Greed's definition. There was however, a seventh unspoken finer thing Greed wanted possibly more so than the rest, friends though the homunculus would never admit such a thing.

' **Even so, he's right about one thing,'** The fox began to think as he continued to stare at Greed muttering to himself, **'This will stand him in good stead if the brat is serious about becoming a Hokage,'** The tailed beast grinned at that, **'And if he does ally himself to the more prominent members of the village, well he could become the most well-connected Hokage in history!'**

* * *

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry for not updating for a long time, and I know I said I would try to update more frequently but unfortunately everything practically went from out of the frying pan and into the fire due to preparing to go to college in… well less than two weeks! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed, feedback is appreciated as I know this was kind of filler-ish but I hope next chapter will be more entertaining for you all.

1) I know it's a HUGE timeskip but I promise there will only be two more big timeskips in the rest of this story, one next chapter for the team selection and one after a series of arcs I'm hoping to write out after I've gone past the point where the first series ended AKA the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

2) As it says, THEORY as in learning about what it entails, not actually performing the technique itself. I find it fairly reasonable that Hinata knows about the tree-walking exercise given her status in Konoha.


	3. Graduation

_Four years later_

For the last few years, Greed and the Nine-Tails hadn't had much to do save for watching Naruto's life unfold. Thanks to influence from Hinata, their container had knuckled down in his studies, to the extent that he understood the fundamental aspects of chakra. He had even managed to become more social with the other clan heirs, aside from Sasuke who still kept him at a distance. He was no genius but he at least scored passable marks on various tests and exams.

While the two only occasionally talked, the fox was often aloof and not too forthcoming about his past. The homunculus never questioned it though, seeing it as either just what he was like or that there was another reason behind it that he wasn't ready to share.

Despite their somewhat odd relationship, they both still had the same goal in mind, assuring that Naruto would grow strong enough to be a suitable container. That being said, Greed had become quite fidgety in the last fortnight as it was soon approaching the graduation of Naruto's class. Generally, it was pacing, at first it had been nerves which fair enough, the more Naruto used chakra practically the greater the likelihood that he would encounter them sooner. However, hearing a repetitive splashing over the course of two weeks as his companion walked around had gradually worn away on the Tailed Beast's nerves.

" **Could you cut it out?"** He asked in an aggravated tone, garnering his so-called 'roommate's' attention, **"I know you're anticipating next week, but it's still seven days until the day."**

"Point taken." Greed admitted, "So, let's say he does pass this exam, who's power do you think he'll get first?"

" **Don't know, don't care."** The fox stated pointedly, **"So long as the brat realises his importance, and doesn't try to force me to do his bidding then I and him will be cordial at best. Besides, didn't he already he use your ability?"**

"Yeah…" Greed said, "But then he didn't use it of his own accord and he hasn't used it since, so let's wait and see what happens. You don't have much faith in him though, do you?"

" **I don't have any faith in humans, period. I've lived for several hundred years, throughout that time they make the same mistakes, cause the same problems, try to smooth it over then they repeat. The fact that they try to subjugate myself and my kin is only an added factor, why should this child be any different?"** He questioned rhetorically.

Greed could offer no answer with the way the question was phrased. However, he did have a query of his own, "You've mentioned others before, there are more foxes like you?"

" **There are more Tailed Beasts like me,"** The Nine-Tails corrected, " **We don't all get along but even the ones I have a particular dislike for don't deserve to be forced into servitude. Though, I trust you slightly more, you might even get me to respect the kid if he's worthy of yours."**

Greed had to process what exactly had just been said to him before his face split into a teasing grin.

" **What?"** His fellow tenant asked, noticing the change in expression.

"That's the closest thing to a compliment you've ever given me, you act like a big, furry weapon of mass destruction, but you're just a big softy, aren't you?"

" **I didn't say that, fool!"** The fox said defensively.

"Holding my opinion in such high regard, says otherwise." Greed pointed out.

A huff was the initial response, **"Believe what you want, the brat still needs to pass his exam if we're to have any real hope of the closest thing to freedom. At any rate, I believe a mock test is taking place to predict the likelihood of which students will become ninja. Let's see how he'll fare with it."** With that, Greed just shrugged, proceeding to pay attention to what was about to happen from the perspective of their container.

* * *

In the classroom, many were feeling a thick layer of apprehension weighing down on them. Though many were able to not show it, even the most stoic of Naruto's classmates couldn't deny their stomach was tying itself in knots. They were aware of the mock taking place but none had any idea what practical application of chakra they would be tested on. As Iruka walked in, a sheet of paper in his hands, every pair of eyes in the class followed him until he came to a stop.

"Alright class, I know you're all nervous, but I can now tell you all that you will need to display your use of the clone jutsu. During the real thing, you need to produce at least three clones, for the mock however you need to make only one." At that many let out a sigh of relief, all but one or three if any knew of the existence of a certain fox and homunculus.

Naruto had blanched, of all the damn techniques it just had to be the one he had the most trouble with. For the sake of being as close to the actual exam as possible, Iruka ordered them all to line up alphabetically meaning Naruto was stuck at the back. Dreading each time one students name would be called and they would produce a perfect clone or if they really wanted to show off, create the amount required to pass the actual exam.

Eventually, it came to Naruto's turn. When prompted to begin, he concentrated, focusing his chakra and released. The snickers and giggling were the first to alert him of the result, sighing in disappointment as he looked at the pathetic attempt at a clone.

"Naruto," Iruka spoke up, "Over the last few years your grades have improved significantly but this needs to stop. You _can_ do it, it's one of the easiest jutsu to do, if you're really serious about your dream you need to at least be able to produce a decent clone. So, I suggest you practice it solidly for the next week, until then-" However, the chunin was cut off as Naruto stormed out of the classroom, causing some of the quiet chuckling to erupt into full-blown laughter.

Hinata had activated her Byakugan before the attempt, she'd had a strange feeling about how her friend produced clones. Normally, clones that formed were identical to the creator, aside from one slight difference being that the clones were transparent. In the heat of battle they made a suitable distraction as an opponent would be unlikely to notice the difference at first glance in a fight. Naruto's were different, being more solid before they disappeared.

Using the Byakugan, Hinata could see he used too much chakra in making his clones despite teaching him the theory behind tree-walking which had improved his chakra control to some degree. While she had used her Kekkei Genkai to observe and assist him in the tree-walking theory, this was the first time she had seen Naruto undergoing the process of producing clones whilst using her Byakugan.

She wanted to go after her friend, drag him back and then tell Iruka of her discovery but with some of her classmates still laughing hard at what had just transpired it would likely hurt the blond more even if he was given a kernel of hope.

"Would you all be quiet?!" Came an order, surprisingly not from Iruka, but from Ino Yamanaka. The resulting silence came as a cue for the clan heiress to continue into a rant, "If one of your teammates fails, are you just going to laugh at them? The answer should be no. So, what if he failed? That doesn't mean he's not going to pass the exam, so how about all of you who just laughed at him lay off?" The blonde's question was once more met with quiet.

Hinata gave her fellow heiress a grateful smile, appreciating the assertiveness the other girl had. It wasn't a vain attempt at being a hero either, Naruto and Ino had become genuine friends after his fellow blonde had discovered he had a love, of all things, tending to flowers. Since the Yamanaka family owned a floristry business outside of being ninja, Ino had developed a keen interest in flowers from a young age and hadn't mocked Naruto's hobby. In fact, if there was ever a surplus of flowers from the shop, she would give them to Naruto as a way of ensuring they wouldn't go to waste, on more than one occasion even jokingly suggesting that her clan employ him in the shop to look after the stock.

Noticing Hinata's reaction at last, Ino returned the expression and a nod that urged the Hyuga heiress to go after Naruto. Hinata did so, and surprisingly, Iruka didn't protest even as she gave no reason for her sudden exit.

It wasn't too difficult to locate him, given her use of the Byakugan, allowing her to hone in on his chakra signature. A special aspect of chakra while every human's chakra was fundamentally the same, minute differences allowed sensor type ninja like herself to tell the difference between friend or foe, when someone was lying and even if an enemy had disguised themselves as an ally. She found him in one of the training fields, taking his aggression out on a tree, via punching it.

Quickly, Hinata rushed to stop her friend before he did his right hand any permanent damage. Frantically grabbing the corresponding wrist and inspecting it for damage, Hinata soon did a double take. There was blood on the bark of the tree he'd been using as his punching bag but his hand appeared to have sustained no damage whatsoever.

As if to predict the questions she had racing through her mind, Naruto finally spoke, "I only just realised it myself. When I get hurt, I heal quickly, sometimes I actually think I see little sparks of red lightning stitching up my wounds." He chuckled humourlessly at that, "Sounds crazy, right?"

"I… I don't know what to say…" Hinata said, still in complete disbelief at Naruto's lack of injury.

"I'm not sure what causes it, maybe it's why people in Konoha hate me," He sighed, "I just can't believe that Iruka-sensei would act that way, he knows how hard I've worked to get here, so why does he think I've done nothing but sit on my ass?"

"It's because he doesn't realise it's not that you haven't worked hard." Hinata stated.

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned.

"When you use the clone jutsu, far too much chakra is used, and I think it's because you have so much of it that that's the case. The main problem with that is it always results in your clones coming out defective." Hinata said.

"Really?" Naruto questioned hopefully before becoming unsure again, "But so what? I know I can't pass the exam; four damn years and I still can't perform a clone justsu."

"Not necessarily," His friend spoke up, garnering his attention, "Last year I heard rumours that one student had passed using purely taijutsu, if we go to Iruka-sensei, perhaps we could see about you meeting special conditions as well?" She suggested.

Given the new revelation, Naruto's mood changed instantly from despondent to ecstatic, "Let's do it! There's no harm in trying, right?"

* * *

Iruka had absolutely no idea what to do when Naruto and Hinata had returned. Thankfully, Mizuki had substituted for him while he dealt with the two had just told him. Because he didn't know what could be done, he did the logical thing and went to the Hokage. It was just himself, Naruto, Hinata and of course, the third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After informing him of the reason for his visit, the old man had gone silent, taken out his pipe and inhaled deeply before blowing the smoke out. It was unusual for the wizened shinobi to do such an action as often he would figure something out straight away, then again, he could simply be contemplating what he should do carefully since the matter was highly sensitive. When he cleared his throat, he finally spoke up.

"Hand Naruto's teaching duties over to me for the next week." He stated, a collective gasp of surprise was the first response he got.

"L-Lord Hokage, are you sure?" Iruka asked, "You have enough work to do without taking on a student and you haven't taught anyone since-"

"Iruka," Hiruzen cut him off sternly, "I do not doubt for a moment that Naruto hasn't worked hard but if he is still struggling with the basic clone technique and it is in fact due to the reasons Hinata has said to you, I believe that I could have a way to give Naruto a chance at passing."

In the tutor's stunned silence, Naruto spoke up excitedly, "You mean it, old man?"

The Hokage nodded, "I cannot guarantee success but if you're able to pull off what I have in store, I have no doubt you will pass the exam. Also, I won't be treating you like an academy student, the jutsu I'll be showing you is something even the most experienced ninja struggle to perform and I'll treat you as such, that means I will be incredibly strict. So, with that in mind, are you up for the challenge?"

"A week is seven days, right?" Naruto asked rhetorically as he seemed to be weighing his decision before his face split into a grin. Making eye contact with the Hokage once more, he spoke up resolutely, "Then I'll do it in seven hours!" Naturally, Iruka's jaw slacked in surprise and even Hinata seemed concerned given Hiruzen's foreboding warning. In contrast to the other two, Hiruzen chuckled, admiring the aspiring ninja's enthusiasm.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto began, "It's noon now, when I'm done with learning what the old man wants to teach me, you treat me to a bowl at Ichiraku Ramen!"

"Ha, deal and if you do that, I might even give you my headband!" Iruka quipped jokingly.

"Good luck, Naruto." Hinata said, getting another grin and a thumbs up in response.

Iruka and Hinata exited the office at that, leaving the other two together. The duo would head back to the academy given the classes they both had to attend.

When the clocks struck seven, Iruka pushed back the ramen stand's cloth and smirked somewhat triumphantly as he noted he was the only occupant to the seating area. He chuckled, recalling his student's words to him, as well as his own half-hearted offer, "Looks like even Naruto's spunk isn't enough for teaching from the Hokage." He muttered to himself.

"Ah, Iruka, what can I do for you?" Teuchi greeted, happy to see one of his regulars.

"Beef ramen please, Teuchi." Iruka confirmed, acknowledging Ayame's presence with a nod, one that she returned.

"Coming up, Naruto isn't with you tonight? You two are normally joined at the hip when you visit this place." The food stand owner asked, beginning to prepare the order.

"Yeah, I promised Naruto I would meet him here, he's working hard on something with the Hokage himself and if he did by seven tonight, I said I'd pay for his order." He explained, "But he's not here so I guess-" He began to continue until becoming acutely aware of rapid footsteps, the sound amplified by impacting on roofs, the source of the noise was quickly closing in on the small-time restaurant.

The sound of something or rather _someone_ jumping onto the ground directly in front of the stand occurred, both the chef and the customer facing the entryway. When the cloth parted, Naruto was revealed, bedraggled, grimy and appeared to have been profusely sweating but otherwise seemed in good spirits.

Iruka's eyes widened at the blonde's appearance, surely, he couldn't have actually done what the Hokage taught in such short a time?

"Pay up, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto declared, confidently walking in and taking a seat next to his flabbergasted teacher.

"You're not serious?" Iruka asked, to which Naruto produced a scroll. Taking it and realised it was indeed the Hokage's smooth, elegant handwriting, not Naruto's usual chicken scratch. It informed him that Naruto had passed the teaching, exactly as he said he would.

"My usual order Teuchi, don't forget the extra pork!" Naruto ordered, completely ignoring his teacher twitching as Iruka's mind raced, trying to comprehend exactly what jutsu Naruto could have learned from the Hokage in such a short span of time.

The clink of a bowl in front of him snapped Iruka out of his stupor and couldn't help but notice that both Teuchi and Ayame were struggling to contain their laughter, "So, you really did it? What did you learn?" He asked.

"Wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't," Naruto replied playfully, "It's a secret until the exam, I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces when I pass!"

"We'll see about that," Iruka said, "Also… I wanted to apologise." He continued.

"For what?" The blond asked.

"For how harshly I spoke to you before, it was wrong of me to doubt you without first seeing if there was anything that could have been done," The chunin explained, his tone becoming regretful, "The truth is, I was much like you when I was a student," Naruto raised an eyebrow questioningly, to which Iruka further elaborated, "During the Nine-Tails attack, my parents died, I was one of many orphans left behind by that monster's attack. Eventually, life tried to become normal again, I'd never really had any friends and no other family within the village and with Konoha still in a chaotic state after the attack I was ignored. So, I became the class clown, cracked jokes and pulled pranks to get some kind of acknowledgement, although I'm a teacher now at the time I almost failed my graduation exam. I know that's how you feel and I know you have friends now as well but sometimes it's not always easy to talk about your problems, is it? Even with those you're closest to. I should have been there for you, no one should feel that way, no one should suffer like that, I'm sorry."

There was a long silence between the two, even when Naruto's bowl was set down in front of him, neither of them spoke.

"Thanks," Naruto finally said, "It's… good to know that you're there for me sensei, and if there's any problem, I'll come to you about it." He continued gratefully before beginning to sport another cocky grin, "Though, remember your little promise?"

"You mean my headband?" He asked, in truth already expecting that's what Naruto meant, "Alright fine, if this secret of yours is as big of a surprise as you claim it to be, I'll put it on myself in front of the entire class."

Naruto's hand shot out, suspending itself in the air between the two, "Shake on it!"

"Deal," Iruka said, clasping the outstretched hand, "Now, let's finish the ramen before it gets cold." He suggested, causing Naruto to jump at the food and begin inhaling it as only the young Uzumaki knew how. Smiling at his student fondly, Iruka tucked into his own ramen at a far more leisurely pace.

* * *

A week quickly passed with the students given the week to practice and perfect the clone technique, everything was normal for Iruka. Mizuki and himself would be the proctors for test, so far none had failed and as before, Naruto would be the one to go last. Wordlessly, the teacher motioned for Naruto to begin. The blond positioned his index fingers into a cross-like hand sign, nothing too strange if not for the fact that Naruto would still be doing the clone jutsu. Before anything could be said, there was a puff of smoke large enough to fill the room and Iruka's vision turned orange.

 _One minute earlier_

Outside, the graduates were revelling in their latest accomplishment in their own ways, some stayed silent to formulate plans on what the next step as their times as ninja would be, others boasted confidently about it and the rest cheered for both themselves and the friends who had passed. Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba, arguably the closest of Naruto's classmates had left briefly only to return with umbrellas.

"I sill don't get why Naruto asked us to do this, it seems way too much trouble for nothing so far." The Nara heir complained.

"Lighten up Shikamaru," Choji encouraged, "Sure, it seems strange but Naruto must have a reason for telling us to get these."

"I'm with Shika on this," Kiba spoke, "Naruto has some big prank planned, I just know it." Akamaru gave a bark in agreement.

"If that's the case I hope it doesn't involve paint, it could take forever to get the dye out of my headband." Ino stated.

"I'm sure it's not going to be like that," Hinata said, the other four looked at Hinata questioningly, justifiably believing in the possibility of Naruto going that far with one of his pranks. Taking the silent point being made, the Hyuga heiress relented, "Okay, so maybe he will do something like that but we'll just have to wait and see."

No sooner was the sentence uttered than the doors to exam hall burst open, causing not one but dozens of Naruto to come pouring onto the yard all of them yelling loudly. Exactly as a tsunami makes landfall, the orange tide stayed at roughly ground level until just before it reached the surprised graduates then, rose up to the height of the three-storey academy building in a wave. At that point, everyone in the yard gave a yell at what was about to happen but was soon silenced after being buried underneath the army of copies.

One by one, each graduate popped their heads out of the horde that was now sprawled across every inch of the yard, painting it mostly orange. Finally, another Naruto rose from the mass.

"Yeah! What do you say to this Iruka-sensei?!" Evidently, this was the real Naruto, there was a shuffling off the clones almost directly in front of the real one and Iruka soon emerged from the dogpile.

"These… these are all solid clones, the Shadow Clone Jutsu…" He mumbled in shock, the sly grin Naruto gave him only confirmed what he already knew, "You've more than earned the right to pass, and in keeping to our promise," He continued proudly before taking off his own headband and handing it to his student, "I now declare that you're officially a graduate of the academy."

Naruto slowly took the headband, almost unable to believe that it was really happening before then raising it up triumphantly, "All right, everyone! This is where everything goes full throttle, let's do our best and don't hold back on me, I know I won't." The spirit of the class was riled up to such an extent after Naruto's display that even those who disliked the Uzumaki joined in on the collective cheer of triumph, all eager to rise to his challenge. Unbeknownst to anyone, Mizuki's fists were clenched with anger despite the proud smile he wore.

The selection of teams would commence two weeks after the graduation, allowing everyone some much needed rest. The final test was soon to come, one that would determine whether they would truly go on to become Konoha ninja.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys, sorry it took as long as it did to get this chapter up but long story short, college, the rest from it and build up to my brother's wedding all snowballed into one and delayed it. I'll try to be more active but with how my college work is currently going I might not have much opportunity to write and I'm sorry if this chapter seems a little short. Anyway, review if you enjoyed it or if there's any constructive criticism you guys think you can give me and I'll see you as soon as possible in the next chapter.**


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